Oct 17 2007 02:00 PM ET

Trailer Blazer: 'Love in the Time of Cholera'

Categories: Film, Movie Trailers

I’ve absolutely no familiarity with the Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel that this Javier Bardem flick is based on. (To put it bluntly, it doesn’t have enough lasers or explosions in it for me.) So, coming to this cold, all I can say is ”eh.”

Never have I seen a more ham-fisted use of voiceover in a trailer. It sounds like an ABC Family movie. And, in this day-and-age, the Nobel prize just doesn’t quite mean what it used to, not when winners have appeared on Saturday Night Live.

I’m sure it’s romantic and heartbreaking and tragic…but judging by this spot, I’ll wait for it to hit Lifetime.

Comments (1-21) of 21 Add your comment

  • oliver

    I hated this book with a wild passion. Ergo, I am not touching this movie with a million-foot pole. Don’t get me started on Oprah picking it for book club. **shrug**

  • Jessica

    I actually first read this book in high school and it is still one of my favorites (granted, I read the Spanish-language, original version)…I still would take this book (and movie) over some of the crap that comes out anymore! But, to each his own!

  • CARLO

    waht a stupid article – nobel peace prize means nothing? so what if he’s appeared on SNL – it is his WORK that is being recognized – it is people like you that are leading this world down a dangerous path by avoiding what Gore is pleading for us not to – WAKE UP!

  • mandi (not bierly)

    yes, the voiceover is uber lame. the movie doesn’t look too bad. but i absolutely *love* the novel, so i’m both excited and skeptical
    and if you think the legitimacy of gore’s nobel win is tainted by his appearance on snl, fine. but that doesn’t mean all other prize winners have to be knocked down too.
    was colbert right? is gore not only winning all the awards out there, but also divesting them of meaning?

  • Jeremy

    Amen to the suckiness of this trailer. While the book is beautiful, it’s also gritty and dark, which doesn’t show a bit in this romanticized, piece of trash trailer.

  • Alissa

    You have to read the book, and I think you’ll change your opinion of Marquez. The trailer doesn’t do the novel justice, but I don’t know how a movie could. I would still see it to see if it can carry the gravitas of Marquez’s words.

  • Tally

    Even Marquez has said that the book isn’t about true romantic love. I read a quote from Marquez that the central woman is supposed to be better (worthier as a human being) than either her husband or her stalker. And whether she truly loves either them is thrown into question several times. They’ve just smoothed all that out for this trailer and possibly the whole movie.
    I love the book, but when I started examining the 3 main characters, none of them were particularly lovable.
    Is that Javier Bardem playing young Florentino Ariza or is it a different actor?
    Also, hooray for Al Gore.

  • Princess of Peace

    I love the book and I don’t have a problem with the trailer. No matter how it turns out this film will be better than a lot of the stuff that passes as cinema these days.
    And, yes, another actor plays the young Florentino. He is Spanish actor Unax Ugalde.

  • mark in nyc

    while the trailer and vocieover are appaling, I wil see this movie based on the strength of the book.

  • Martha

    It’s too bad the trailer is such a model of suckitude, because the book is supposed to be amazing. The “Original Song by Shakira” tag at the end didn’t help this movie’s case either.

  • Lucas

    Strange trailer. I hope the trailer is one of those trailers meant to trick you because the movie is about something else. The book is not about romantic love. As for the Shakira song, if you don’t speak Castillian and can’t understand the work that made her famous, you probably should withhold judgment. Plus, Garcia Marquez and Shakira are super buddies.

  • teecee

    i have read so many books, in so many languages, and nothings beats “el gabo.” his nobel price is well earned. remember he has written more than just love in the times…about the movie: we’ll just have to wait and see. javier bardem is an awesome actor; i recommend mar adentro (the sea inside). as for shakira, she is a very talented composer, remembering her early stuff in spanish is great (estoy aqui). and there are worse places that a nobel prize can be seen in than snl.

  • dan

    Marc, I think you need to brush up on your Marquez. His stuff is FILLED with lasers and explosions.

  • Ar

    I love the book, the author and will definitely go see the movie even though the trailer looks quite lame. On top of that I think Javier Bardem is an amazing actor and Giovanna Mezzogiorno is very good too (in Italian – not sure when she acts in English but we’ll see)
    As for the Nobel prize and any comments on it, you should definitely read Gabo before expressing any judgement – he is fantastic!

  • Tommy Marx

    How exactly do you “see” a voiceover, ham-fisted or not?

  • sam

    Is it necessary to make uneducated comments about this fantastic, timeless writer just because you don’t like the trailer of this movie? When you win a Nobel prize for writing, you will be in a position to belittle that incredible achievement and not before then. I am always surprised that EW employs “professional writers” who appear to never have read a piece of literature.

  • Susan

    Original song by Shakira? “Hips don’t lie”? “Whenever,wherever”? Oh no. Oh. No.
    Doesn’t anyone here remember the AWFUL version of “Like Water for Chocolate” directed by the author’s now ex-husband,Alfonso Arau? ANYONE?

  • misty

    Mark – why waste people’s time by commenting on something when you have no idea about it? Knobhead. It’s just lazy.

  • Heidi

    Wow, I can’t believe people are so closed-minded about Shakira’s contributions to this film. If you’ve only heard her top English hits, you really should hold your comments until you do your homework. She has been around for over a decade, writing her own music and succeeding on her own terms. She has recorded a very wide range of work, including beautiful romantic ballads. She also happens to be a close friend of G.G. Marquez. Oh yeah, she also has a 140 IQ, and donates tons of money to humanitarian causes. But I guess that’s not important to someone who’s only capable of noticing her T&A.

  • Cindi

    I just finished reading this book last night, and really enjoyed it. The movie trailer took me by surprise because it seemed to be advertising a love story, which is not how I would describe the book. I hate when a movie goes way off track from the novel it was adapted from, I hope this will not be the case with this one.

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